Edwardian Photoblogging

December 16, 2017May 13, 2023 David James

Kensington and Chelsea Libraries in London, England, uncovered a series of images suggesting that the Edwardians might have been the world’s first photobloggers.

Amateur photographer Edward Linley Sambourne (1844 – 1910) was the chief cartoonist for the British satirical magazine “Punch” which was first published in 1841.

He captured a slice of Edwardian life in these amazing candid photographs.

Young women walking to work in London; ladies and families strolling the boulevards of Paris; couples crossing the English Channel on steamships; friends enjoying the beaches of Kent and Ostende; and housemaids hard at work cleaning the steps to plush city townhomes.

Continuing the long, elegant lines of the late Victorian period, the Edwardian era was a time of transition in women’s fashion.

It would be the last time women would wear corsets in everyday life.

And as these images show, women were enjoying a new level of freedom from the rigid conventions of heavy ankle-length Victorian gowns and bustles.

Embracing leisure sports, the upper-classes drove rapid developments in more mobile, flexible clothing styles made of lightweight fabrics for more active lifestyles.

Women’s fashion would never look back.

As Oxford University historian Arthur Marwick (1936 – 2006) noted,

for, however far politicians were to put the clocks back in other steeples in the years after the war, no one ever put the lost inches back on the hems of women’s skirts.

Sambourne’s hobby gave us glimpses into a past that looks oddly familiar.

It was 1905.

What is this woman thinking as she walks to work?

She had similar worries to most of us today—a to-do list as long as your arm, what to make for dinner, helping her little sister with her homework, whether to accept the advances of a work colleague who seemed like a true gentleman …

Apart from her hat, the practicality and style of her clothing wouldn’t change much for decades to come.

A young woman in Cromwell Road, London on July 12, 1905 in a stylish striped shirt with a belt and an ankle-length skirt

We thought the Internet generation was the first to truly embrace mobile multi-tasking.

Glued to a book on the walk to work in London, this woman reminds us of how glued we are to our mobile device screens today.

A woman in a formal white dress with black handbag walks along the street in Kensington on June 15, 1908

No need to look where we’re going—other people will simply adapt and move around us.

As long as we don’t walk into a lamppost, we’re good to go.

This woman is a shop salesperson, walking along Kensington Church Street, on September 8, 1906

Big hats with giant bows and cycling may not go together well today, but Edwardians made it work.

Cycling was in vogue as the way to get around, but to be without one’s hat was sacrilegious.

Hats could be hazardous to one's cycling, 1908 — Hats could be hazardous to one’s cycling, 1908

Two women engaged in conversation as they walk, 1908

Sambourne used a concealed camera to capture candid moments.

But it looks like this woman has an inkling that something is going on.

Is that a camera in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me, 1908

Few things in the Edwardian era were worse than being out-hatted.

One had to keep a close eye on the competition.

Edwardians too had to suffer the inescapable feeling of incredulity at the various scandals of politicians and celebrities.

Imagine this woman is checking her iPhone.

The little dog doesn’t seem too impressed.

A young woman carrying something. Can't be an iPhone, can it — A young woman carrying something. Can’t be an iPhone, can it

Mr Sambourne, me thinks you’ve been spotted again?

You've been spotted again, Mr Photoblogger. Kensington, 1906 — You’ve been spotted again, Mr Photoblogger. Kensington, 1906

At last! Some willing portrait subjects.

And just look at those smiles—almost unheard of in more formal portraiture.

Escorting the boys down tree-lined Cromwell Road

The wonderful thing about candid photography is capturing people smiling, which they didn't do for portraits, 1907 — The wonderful thing about candid photography is capturing people smiling, which they didn’t do for portraits, 1907

Can you see the freedom of movement in the clothing that allows these women to put their best foot forward?

Be careful!

Having a good sense of balance was important for wearing Edwardian hats.

A young woman on Kensington High Street with horse-drawn buses in the background

Whistle while you walk to school with Mother.

A charming picture of a happy moment in time, captured forever.

The wonderful thjg about candid photography is capturing people smiling, which they didn't do for portraits, 1907 — The wonderful thjg about candid photography is capturing people smiling, which they didn’t do for portraits, 1907

Confidence.

Perhaps for the first time in history, Edwardian women were free to project confidence and begin determining their own future.

What is this young lady carrying - a tablet — What is this young lady carrying – a tablet

Ah, oui!

We move to Paris.

Higher hemlines were a feature of Edwardian skirts that afforded women greater freedom of movement, but at least one of these ladies prefers to lift her skirt to clear the puddles just in case.

3 women walk the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, 1906

Arm-in-arm.

What could be more perfect than an afternoon stroll around the Tuileries Garden?

A group of young women and children walking in the Tuileries Garden, Paris, 1906

Black mourning dress worn for months or years was a convention carried over from the Victorian era and still widely practiced.

Two ladies in mourning dress, Paris, 1906

A fashionable woman in the Tuileries Garden, Paris, 1906

Two ladies climb the steps to Rue de Rivoli, Paris, 1906

A parasol looks the part on the Boulevard des Italiens, Paris, 1906

Notice the wheels on the horse-drawn cab.

Inspired by the wheels of bicycles?

These were interesting times—a transition from horses to automobiles was underway.

Coming down the steps to Rue de Rivoli, Paris, 1906

Time to see and be seen at the Place du Louvres.

Fashionable Parisians at Place du Louvres, Paris, 1906

A family walking in the Tuileries Garden, Paris, 1906

A brisk breeze, sea air, and steam power.

This lady is aboard a steamer—a ship propelled by steam—crossing the English Channel to visit Ostende in Belgium.

Invented by Victorians, the steamship enabled the upper classes to see the world and as prices fell, the middle class were able to enjoy the occasional weekend getaway.